Semiconductor memory

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor memory that includes a memory cell array by which power consumption can be reduced and that enables a reduction in circuit area. In the memory cell array, each of capacitor plate lines is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells in a same row, and each of word lines is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells in different rows in a column direction. In addition, of drive circuits for driving the capacitor plate lines and the word lines, part of word line drive circuits (WL drive circuits) are arranged in the column direction. Therefore, it is possible to drive all of the word lines without using a dummy area. As a result, circuit area can be reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefits of priority fromthe prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-075323, filed on Mar. 17,2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a semiconductor memory, and more particularly,to a semiconductor memory having ferroelectric memory cells.

(2) Description of the Related Art

A flash memory and a ferroelectric memory are known as nonvolatilememories which can store information after power is turned off.

A flash memory has a floating gate embedded in a gate insulating film ofan insulated gate field-effect transistor (IGFET) and stores informationby accumulating electric charges indicative of the information in thisfloating gate. With a flash memory, however, a tunnel current must bepassed through a gate insulating film to write or erase information.Accordingly, a comparatively high voltage must be applied.

On the other hand, a ferroelectric memory is also known as aferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) and stores information bymaking use of the hysteresis characteristic of a ferroelectric filmincluded in a ferroelectric capacitor. This ferroelectric film polarizesaccording to voltage applied between an upper electrode and a lowerelectrode of the capacitor. Even after the voltage is removed,spontaneous polarization remains. When the polarity of the appliedvoltage is reversed, the direction of the spontaneous polarization isalso reversed. Therefore, by associating the directions of thespontaneous polarization with “1” and “0,” information is written to theferroelectric film. Voltage necessary for this writing is lower thanvoltage applied to a flash memory. In addition, high-speed writing canbe performed compared with a flash memory.

In order to reduce the power consumption of a ferroelectric memoryincluding memory cells each having such a ferroelectric capacitor, thefollowing memory cell array in which word lines are arranged like stairsis disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent PublicationNo. 2001-358312).

FIG. 7 shows an example of a memory cell array included in aconventional ferroelectric memory.

A memory cell array 800 includes a plurality of memory cells arranged ina matrix form, bit lines BL1, BL2, BL3, and BL4 and complementary bitlines /BL1, /BL2, /BL3, and /BL4 arranged in a column direction, andword lines WL1, WL2, WL3, WL4, WL5, WL6, WL7, WL8, WL9, WL10, and WL11and capacitor plate lines PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4, PL5, PL6, PL7, PL8, PL9,PL10, and PL11 arranged in a row direction. The word lines WL1 throughWL11 are arranged like stairs so that each of them will connect withferroelectric memory cells in different rows in the column direction.

Each memory cell includes, for example, two metal oxide semiconductor(MOS) transistors and two ferroelectric capacitors and is what is calleda 2T2C cell. For example, a memory cell 801 includes MOS transistors 801a and 801 b and ferroelectric capacitors 801 c and 801 d. Oneinput-output terminal of the MOS transistor 801 a is connected to thebit line BL4 and one input-output terminal of the MOS transistor 801 bis connected to the complementary bit line /BL4. The other input-outputterminal of the MOS transistor 801 a is connected to one terminal of theferroelectric capacitor 801 c and the other input-output terminal of theMOS transistor 801 b is connected to one terminal of the ferroelectriccapacitor 801 d. Gates of the MOS transistors 801 a and 801 b areconnected to the word line WL1. The other terminal of the ferroelectriccapacitor 801 c and the other terminal of the ferroelectric capacitor801 d are connected to the capacitor plate line PL4.

An area in the memory cell array 800 including (8×4) memory cells fromthe bottom is a real memory area 810 really used for memory access. Anarea above the real memory area 810 is a dummy area 811. The structureof a memory cell array in the dummy area 811 is the same as that of amemory cell array in the real memory area 810. However, the dummy area811 is not used for memory access but used for arranging the word linesWL1, WL2, and WL3 which connect with memory cells in the real memoryarea 810.

It is assumed that the memory cell 801 located at the row address “0111”and the column address “11” is selected from the memory cell array 800having the above structure.

To select the memory cell 801, the capacitor plate line PL4 located atthe row address “0111” is driven by a capacitor plate line drive circuit(not shown). To select one of the word lines WL1 through WL11 to bedriven, the following conversion must be made because the word lines WL1through WL11 are arranged like stairs.

To select the memory cell 801 located at the row address “0111” and thecolumn address “11,” an adder (not shown) adds these addresses together.“0111”+“11”=“1010,” so a word line drive circuit (not shown) drives theword line WL1 located at the row address “1010”. As a result, the memorycell 801 is selected.

When the word line WL1 is driven, the MOS transistors 801 a and 801 bincluded in the memory cell 801 go into the ON state. When data iswritten, voltage is applied between the bit line BL4 or thecomplementary bit line /BL4 and the capacitor plate line PL4. By doingso, the predetermined data (polarization direction) is written to theferroelectric capacitors 801 c and 801 d. The memory cell 801 is a 2T2Ccell. Therefore, if “1” is stored in the ferroelectric capacitor 801 c,then “00” is stored in the ferroelectric capacitor 801 d. The word lineWL1 is driven again at read time. The MOS transistors 801 a and 801 b gointo the ON state. The data is read out by amplifying the difference inpotential between the bit line BL4 and the complementary bit line /BL4electrically connected to the ferroelectric capacitors 801 c and 801 drespectively with a sense amplifier (not shown).

With the memory cell array 800 having the above structure, the number offerroelectric memory cells simultaneously selected is one when thecapacitor plate line PL4 and the word line WL1, for example, areactivated. Therefore, power consumption can be reduced and high-speedoperation can be realized.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the structure of a conventionalsemiconductor memory having ferroelectric memory cells.

In FIG. 8, each black dot indicates a memory cell 901. A word line WLconnected to the memory cell 901 is actually arranged like stairs. Thisis the same with the word lines WL1 through WL11 shown in FIG. 7. InFIG. 8, however, the word line WL is simplified by using a slant line.Bit lines (including complementary bit lines) are not shown.

A semiconductor memory 900 has a memory cell array including a realmemory area 902 a and a dummy area 903 a and a memory cell arrayincluding a real memory area 902 b and a dummy area 903 b. Memory cellsare not shown in the dummy areas 903 a and 903 b.

WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-1, . . . , 904-n, 904-(n+1), . . . ,904-m for driving word lines WL and capacitor plate lines PL arearranged between the two memory cell arrays.

The WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-1 through 904-n drive capacitorplate lines PLr and word lines WL in the real memory areas 902 a and 902b. The WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-(n+1) through 904-m drive wordlines WL for selecting part of the memory cells in the real memory areas902 a and 902 b. The WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-(n+1) through904-m are connected to capacitor plate lines PLd in the dummy areas 903a and 903 b, but the WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-(n+1) through904-m are not used for driving the capacitor plate lines PLd.Accordingly, the memory cells in the dummy areas 903 a and 903 b cannotbe selected.

The semiconductor memory 900 also has a peripheral circuit section 905including a sense amplifier, an adder, a column selection circuit, atiming generation circuit, and a decoder for selecting a word line WL ora capacitor plate line PLr to be driven and pad sections 906 and 907 forinputting various kinds of voltages and outputting a signal read outfrom a memory cell 901.

Each of the WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-1 through 904-m includes aword line drive circuit and a capacitor plate line drive circuit. Thestructure of the word line drive circuit is approximately the same asthat of the capacitor plate line drive circuit. The structure of anexample of a word line drive circuit 910 will now be described.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of an example of a conventional word linedrive circuit.

The word line drive circuit 910 includes NAND circuits 911, 912, and913, inverter circuits 914, 915, and 916, p-channel MOS transistors(PMOSes) 917 and 918, n-channel MOS transistors (NMOSes) 919 and 920,and ferroelectric capacitors 921 and 922.

One input terminal of the NAND circuit 911 is connected to a step-upterminal BST1. One input terminal of the NAND circuit 912 is connectedto a step-up terminal BST2. One input terminal of the NAND circuit 913is connected to a step-up terminal BST3. The respective other inputterminals of the NAND circuits 911, 912, and 913 are connected to adecode terminal DEC.

An output terminal of the NAND circuit 911 is connected to gates of theNMOSes 919 and 920 and is connected to a gate of the PMOS 917 via theinverter circuit 914. An output terminal of the NAND circuit 912 isconnected to one terminal of the ferroelectric capacitor 921 via theinverter circuit 915. An output terminal of the NAND circuit 913 isconnected to one terminal of the ferroelectric capacitor 922 via theinverter circuit 916.

Power supply voltage VDD is applied to one input-output terminal of thePMOS 917. The other input-output terminal of the PMOS 917 is connectedto one input-output terminal of the NMOS 919, the other terminal of theferroelectric capacitor 921, and a gate of the PMOS 918. The otherinput-output terminal of the NMOS 919 is grounded.

The power supply voltage VDD is applied to one input-output terminal ofthe PMOS 918. The other input-output terminal of the PMOS 918 isconnected to one input-output terminal of the NMOS 920, the otherterminal of the ferroelectric capacitor 922, and an output terminal OUT.The other input-output terminal of the NMOS 920 is grounded. The outputterminal OUT is connected to a word line WL shown in FIG. 8. That is tosay, the number of the word line drive circuits 910 located is equal tothat of the word lines WL included in the memory cell arrays.

The operation of the word line drive circuit 910 will now be describedin brief.

The adder included in the peripheral circuit section 905 performs anaddition process in the above-mentioned way by using addresses of amemory cell selected to specify which word line WL to select. When theword line WL to be driven by the word line drive circuit 910 isselected, the decode terminal DEC of the word line drive circuit 910changes to the high (H) level. At this time the step-up terminals BST1,BST2, and BST3 are changed to the H level in that order by the timinggeneration circuit included in the peripheral circuit section 905. Then,three-stage step-up operation is performed by electric charges stored inthe ferroelectric capacitors 921 and 922 and the word line WL is driven.

The structure of the capacitor plate line drive circuit is approximatelythe same as that of the word line drive circuit 910.

As shown in FIG. 8, however, the conventional semiconductor memory usingthe word lines arranged like stairs includes the dummy areas 903 a and903 b where a memory cell cannot be selected. In addition, the dummyareas 903 a and 903 b have the shape of a triangle and blank areasopposite the dummy areas 903 a and 903 b also have the shape of atriangle. Accordingly, it is difficult to locate other circuits in theseblank areas. As a result, there is a strong possibility that these blankareas really become dead space.

Furthermore, the WL/PL drive circuit sections 904-(n+1) through 904-mwhich can drive word lines and capacitor plate lines are located in theareas where only word lines are driven, which causes the increase in thearea of a chip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made under the background circumstancesdescribed above. An object of the present invention is to provide asemiconductor memory that includes a memory cell array by which powerconsumption can be reduced and that enables a reduction in circuit area.

In order to achieve the above object, there is provided a semiconductormemory having a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells, comprising amemory cell array including the plurality of ferroelectric memory cellsarranged in a matrix form, capacitor plate lines each arranged so as toconnect with ferroelectric memory cells in a same row, and word lineseach arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells indifferent rows in a column direction; a plurality of capacitor plateline drive circuits for driving the capacitor plate lines; and aplurality of word line drive circuits for driving the word lines,wherein the plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits arearranged in a direction of a row of the memory cell array and part ofthe plurality of word line drive circuits are arranged in the columndirection.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, there is provided asemiconductor memory having a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells,comprising a memory cell array including the plurality of ferroelectricmemory cells arranged in a matrix form, word lines each arranged so asto connect with ferroelectric memory cells in a same row, and capacitorplate lines each arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memorycells in different rows in a column direction; a plurality of word linedrive circuits for driving the word lines; and a plurality of capacitorplate line drive circuits for driving the capacitor plate lines, whereinthe plurality of word line drive circuits are arranged in a direction ofa row of the memory cell array and part of the plurality of capacitorplate line drive circuits are arranged in the column direction.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferredembodiments of the present invention by way of example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a semiconductormemory according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to afirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to asecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an example of a PL drive circuit includedin the semiconductor memory according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to athird embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a memory cell array and each drivecircuit included in the semiconductor memory according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a memory cell array included in aconventional ferroelectric memory.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the structure of a conventionalsemiconductor memory having ferroelectric memory cells.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of an example of a conventional word linedrive circuit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a semiconductormemory according to the present invention.

A semiconductor memory 10 according to the present invention includes amemory cell array 12 in which word lines WL, capacitor plate lines PL,and bit lines BL are connected to a plurality of ferroelectric memorycells 11. To simplify the description, FIG. 1 shows the memory cellarray 12 which includes (8×4) ferroelectric memory cells 11. As shown inFIG. 7, each ferroelectric memory cell 11 includes MOS transistors andferroelectric capacitors. In FIG. 1, however, each ferroelectric memorycell 11 is simplified.

In the memory cell array 12, the bit lines BL are arranged in a columndirection. Each of the capacitor plate lines PL is arranged so that itwill connect with ferroelectric memory cells 11 in the same row. Each ofthe word lines WL is arranged so that it will connect with ferroelectricmemory cells 11 in different rows in the column direction. As shown inFIG. 7, the word lines WL are actually arranged like stairs. In FIG. 1,however, word lines WL are indicated by slant lines.

In addition, the semiconductor memory 10 includes PL drive circuits13-1, 13-2, 13-3, 13-4, 13-5, 13-6, 13-7, and 13-8 for driving thecapacitor plate lines PL and WL drive circuits 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, 14-4,14-5, 14-6, 14-7, 14-8, 14-9, 14-10, and 14-11 for driving the wordlines WL.

The PL drive circuits 13-1 through 13-8 and the WL drive circuits 14-1through 14-8 are arranged in the direction of a row of the memory cellarray 12 and the WL drive circuits 14-9 through 14-11 are arranged inthe direction of a column of the memory cell array 12. FIG. 1 shows rowaddresses and column addresses which are represented in binary numbers.In FIG. 1, the 8×4 ferroelectric memory cells of the memory cell array12 are represented by the three-digit row addresses of “000” to “111”and the two-digit column addresses of “00” to “11”.

The operation of the semiconductor memory 10 will now be described.

It is assumed that a ferroelectric memory cell 11 a located at the rowaddress “011” and the column address “10” is accessed. A capacitor plateline PL is driven by the PL drive circuit 13-4 located at the rowaddress “011”. Each of the word lines WL is arranged so that it willconnect with ferroelectric memory cells 11 in different rows in thecolumn direction. Accordingly, a word line WL to be driven is determinedon the basis of a value obtained by adding the row address “011” and thecolumn address “10” together.

As stated above, to select the ferroelectric memory cell 11 a located atthe row address “011” and the column address “10,” an adder included ina peripheral circuit section described later adds these addressestogether. “011”+“10”=“101,” so a word line WL is driven by the WL drivecircuit 14-6 located at the row address “101”. As a result, theferroelectric memory cell 11 a is selected. By applying voltage betweena bit line BL connected to the ferroelectric memory cell 11 a and thedriven capacitor plate line PL at write time, predetermined data iswritten to ferroelectric capacitors (not shown) included in theferroelectric memory cell 11 a. At read time, the data written to theferroelectric capacitors is read out by the bit line BL.

Next, the case where a ferroelectric memory cell 11 b located at the rowaddress “111” and the column address “01” is accessed will be described.In this case, a capacitor plate line PL is driven by the PL drivecircuit 13-8 located at the row address “111”. As stated above, a wordline WL to be driven is determined on the basis of a value obtained byadding the row address “111” and the column address “01” together.“111”+“01”=“1000” and the value “1000” is greater than the maximum value“111” for a row address in the memory cell array 12. In this case, aword line WL is driven by the WL drive circuit 14-9 located at thecolumn address “00” of the WL drive circuits 14-9 through 14-11 arrangedin the column direction. As a result, the ferroelectric memory cell 11 bis selected and the above write operation or read operation isperformed.

Similarly, to select a ferroelectric memory cell 11 c for which theresult of “1001” is obtained by adding a row address and a columnaddress together, a word line WL is driven by the WL drive circuit 14-10located at the column address “01”.

In the memory cell array 12 in the above semiconductor memory 10, eachof the capacitor plate lines PL is arranged so as to connect withferroelectric memory cells 11 in the same row, and each of the wordlines WL is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells 11in different rows in the column direction. Accordingly, the number offerroelectric memory cells 11 simultaneously selected is small and powerconsumption can be reduced. In addition, of the drive circuits fordriving the word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL, the WL drivecircuits 14-9 through 14-11, which are part of the WL drive circuits14-1 through 14-11, are arranged in the column direction. Therefore, itis possible to drive all of the word lines WL without using a dummyarea. As a result, circuit area can be reduced.

Semiconductor memories according to embodiments of the present inventionwill now be described in detail.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to afirst embodiment of the present invention.

A semiconductor memory 100 a according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention includes two memory cell arrays 101 and 102. As shownin FIG. 1, each of the memory cell arrays 101 and 102 includes capacitorplate lines PL each arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memorycells 103 in the same row and word lines WL each arranged so as toconnect with ferroelectric memory cells 103 in different rows in thecolumn direction. Bit lines are not shown in the memory cell arrays 101and 102.

WL/PL drive circuit sections 104-1, 104-2, . . . , and 104-n for drivingthe word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL included in thememory cell arrays 101 and 102 are arranged in the row direction betweenthe two memory cell arrays 101 and 102. WL drive circuits 105-1 through105-m and 106-1 through 106-m for driving part of the word lines WL inthe memory cell arrays 101 and 102 which cannot be driven by the WL/PLdrive circuit sections 104-1 through 104-n arranged in the row directionare arranged in the column direction above the memory cell arrays 101and 102 respectively. By doing so, all of the n capacitor plate lines PLand (n+m) word lines WL in the memory cell arrays 101 and 102 can bedriven.

Each of the WL/PL drive circuit sections 104-1 through 104-n includes aword line drive circuit and a capacitor plate line drive circuit likethose shown in FIG. 1. The structure of the word line drive circuit isapproximately the same as that of the capacitor plate line drivecircuit. Concrete circuit structure is the same as that shown in FIG. 9.

The semiconductor memory 100 a also includes a peripheral circuitsection 107 and pad sections 108 and 109 for inputting various kinds ofvoltages and outputting a signal read out from a ferroelectric memorycell 103.

The peripheral circuit section 107 includes a decoder for selecting aword line WL or a capacitor plate line PL to be driven on the basis ofaddresses designated from the outside at the time of selecting aferroelectric memory cell 103, an adder 107 a for adding the row addressand the column address together in the above way at the time ofselecting the word line WL, a sense amplifier, a column selectioncircuit, and a timing generation circuit.

The operation of the semiconductor memory 100 a according to the firstembodiment of the present invention is approximately the same as that ofthe semiconductor memory 10 shown in FIG. 1. That is to say, to access aferroelectric memory cell 103, a capacitor plate line PL is driven byone of the WL/PL drive circuit sections 104-1 through 104-n located at arow address of the ferroelectric memory cell 103. If a row addresshaving a value obtained by adding together a column address and the rowaddress of the ferroelectric memory cell 103 to be accessed exists inthe memory cell array 101 or 102, then a word line WL is driven by oneof the WL/PL drive circuit sections 104-1 through 104-n located at therow address. If a value obtained by adding together the column addressand the row address of the ferroelectric memory cell 103 to be accessedis greater than a maximum value for a row address in the memory cellarray 101 or 102, then one of the WL drive circuits 105-1 through 105-mand 106-1 through 106-m arranged in the column direction above thememory cell arrays 101 and 102 respectively is selected according to thevalue to drive a word line WL. Write operation or read operation isperformed on the ferroelectric memory cell 103 selected in this way.

In the memory cell arrays 101 and 102 included in the abovesemiconductor memory 100 a according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention, each capacitor plate line PL is arranged so as toconnect with ferroelectric memory cells 103 in the same row and eachword line WL is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memorycells 103 in different rows in the column direction. As a result, thenumber of ferroelectric memory cells 103 simultaneously selected issmall and power consumption can be reduced. In addition, of the drivecircuits for driving the word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL,the WL drive circuits 105-1 through 105-m and 106-1 through 106-m, whichare part of the WL drive circuits, are arranged in the column direction.Therefore, it is possible to drive all of the word lines WL withoutusing a dummy area or WL/PL drive circuit sections (see FIG. 8) locatedin a dummy area. As a result, circuit area can be reduced.

A semiconductor memory according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention will now be described.

In the semiconductor memory 10 shown in FIG. 1 or the semiconductormemory 100 a according to the first embodiment of the present invention,the word lines are arranged like stairs in the memory cell array.However, the capacitor plate lines may be arranged like stairs.

In particular, if ferroelectric memory cells each having a stackstructure, for example, are used, a wiring layer can be used for formingcapacitor plate lines. Therefore, unlike the case where planarferroelectric memory cells are used, it is easy to arrange capacitorplate lines like stairs instead of word lines.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

A semiconductor memory 100 b according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention includes two memory cell arrays 111 and 112. This isthe same with the semiconductor memory 100 a according to the firstembodiment of the present invention. The semiconductor memory 100 baccording to the second embodiment of the present invention differs fromthe semiconductor memory 100 a according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention in that each of the memory cell arrays 111 and 112includes word lines WL each arranged so as to connect with ferroelectricmemory cells 113 in the same row and capacitor plate lines PL eacharranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells 113 indifferent rows in the column direction. Bit lines are not shown in thememory cell arrays 111 and 112.

WL/PL drive circuit sections 114-1, 114-2, . . . , and 114-n for drivingthe word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL included in thememory cell arrays 111 and 112 are arranged in the row direction betweenthe two memory cell arrays 111 and 112. PL drive circuits 115-1 through115-m and 116-1 through 116-m for driving part of the capacitor platelines PL in the memory cell arrays 111 and 112 which cannot be driven bythe WL/PL drive circuit sections 114-1 through 114-n arranged in the rowdirection are arranged in the column direction above the memory cellarrays 111 and 112 respectively. By doing so, all of the n word lines WLand (n+m) capacitor plate lines PL in the memory cell arrays 111 and 112can be driven.

The semiconductor memory 100 b according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention also includes a peripheral circuit section 117 and padsections 118 and 119 for inputting various kinds of voltages andoutputting a signal read out from a ferroelectric memory cell 113.

The peripheral circuit section 117 includes a decoder for selecting aword line WL or a capacitor plate line PL to be driven on the basis ofaddresses designated from the outside at the time of selecting aferroelectric memory cell 113, an adder for adding the row address andthe column address together at the time of selecting the capacitor plateline PL, a sense amplifier, a column selection circuit, and a timinggeneration circuit.

Each of the WL/PL drive circuit sections 114-1 through 114-n includes aword line drive circuit and a capacitor plate line drive circuit likethose shown in FIG. 1. The structure of the word line drive circuit isthe same as that shown in FIG. 9. However, if each ferroelectric memorycell 113 has a stack structure, the capacitor plate line drive circuitcan drive a capacitor plate line PL by using power supply voltage. As aresult, the following small-scale circuit, for example, is used as thecapacitor plate line drive circuit.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an example of a PL drive circuit includedin the semiconductor memory according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

A PL drive circuit 120 includes a NAND circuit 121, an inverter circuit122, PMOSes 123 and 124, and NMOSes 125 and 126.

One input terminal of the NAND circuit 121 is connected to a terminalDRV and the other input terminal of the NAND circuit 121 is connected toa decode terminal DEC. An output terminal of the NAND circuit 121 isconnected to gates of the PMOS 123 and the NMOS 125 via the invertercircuit 122.

Power supply voltage VDD is applied to one input-output terminal of thePMOS 123 and the other input-output terminal of the PMOS 123 isconnected to one input-output terminal of the NMOS 125 and gates of thePMOS 124 and the NMOS 126. The other input-output terminal of the NMOS125 is grounded.

The power supply voltage VDD is applied to one input-output terminal ofthe PMOS 124 and the other input-output terminal of the PMOS 124 isconnected to one input-output terminal of the NMOS 126 and an outputterminal OUT. The other input-output terminal of the NMOS 126 isgrounded. The output terminal OUT is connected to a capacitor plate linePL shown in FIG. 3.

Each of the PL drive circuits 115-1 through 115-m and 116-1 through116-m arranged in the column direction also has the above structure.

The operation of the PL drive circuit 120 will now be described inbrief.

The adder included in the peripheral circuit section 117 performs theabove addition process by using addresses of a memory cell to beselected to designate a capacitor plate line PL to be selected. When thecapacitor plate line PL to be driven by the PL drive circuit 120 isselected, the decode terminal DEC of the PL drive circuit 120 changes tothe H level. If at this time the terminal DRV is changed to the H levelby the timing generation circuit included in the peripheral circuitsection 117, then the power supply voltage VDD is obtained at the outputterminal OUT and the capacitor plate line PL is driven.

The capacitor plate line PL can be driven in this way by the powersupply voltage VDD. This obviates step-up circuits like those shown inFIG. 9 (inverter circuits 915 and 916, ferroelectric capacitors 921 and922, and the like) and circuit scale can be reduced.

The operation of the semiconductor memory 100 b according to the secondembodiment of the present invention will now be described. To access aferroelectric memory cell 113, a word line WL is driven by one of theWL/PL drive circuit sections 114-1 through 114-n located at a rowaddress of the ferroelectric memory cell 113. If a row address having avalue obtained by adding together a column address and the row addressof the ferroelectric memory cell 113 to be accessed exists in the memorycell array 111 or 112, then a capacitor plate line PL is driven by oneof the WL/PL drive circuit sections 114-1 through 114-n located at therow address. If a value obtained by adding together the column addressand the row address of the ferroelectric memory cell 113 to be accessedis greater than a maximum value for a row address in the memory cellarray 111 or 112, then one of the PL drive circuits 115-1 through 115-mand 116-1 through 116-m arranged in the column direction above thememory cell arrays 111 and 112 respectively is selected according to thevalue to drive a capacitor plate line PL. Write operation or readoperation is performed on the ferroelectric memory cell 113 selected inthis way.

In the memory cell arrays 111 and 112 included in the abovesemiconductor memory 100 b according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention, each word line WL is arranged so as to connect withferroelectric memory cells 113 in the same row and each capacitor plateline PL is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cells 113in different rows in the column direction. As a result, the number offerroelectric memory cells 113 simultaneously selected is small andpower consumption can be reduced. In addition, of the drive circuits fordriving the word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL, the PL drivecircuits 115-1 through 115-m and 116-1 through 116-m, which are part ofthe PL drive circuits, are arranged in the column direction. Therefore,unlike the case of FIG. 8, it is possible to drive all of the capacitorplate lines PL without using a dummy area or WL/PL drive circuitsections located in a dummy area. This reduces circuit area. Moreover,as shown in FIG. 4, the scale of the PL drive circuit can be reduced byusing ferroelectric memory cells 113 each having a stack structure.Accordingly, the circuit area of the semiconductor memory 100 b can bereduced further.

A semiconductor memory according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention will now be described.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of a semiconductor memory according to thethird embodiment of the present invention.

A semiconductor memory 100 c according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention includes two memory cell arrays 131 and 132. This isthe same with the semiconductor memories 100 a and 100 b according tothe first embodiment and the second embodiment, respectively, of thepresent invention. Each of the memory cell arrays 131 and 132 includesword lines WL each arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memorycells 133 in the same row and capacitor plate lines PL each arranged soas to connect with ferroelectric memory cells 133 in different rows inthe column direction. This is the same with the semiconductor memory 100b according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Comparedwith the memory cell arrays 111 and 112 included in the semiconductormemory 100 b according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention, however, the memory cell arrays 131 and 132 are turned upsidedown in the semiconductor memory 100 c according to the third embodimentof the present invention.

WL/PL drive circuit sections 134-1, 134-2, . . . , and 134-n for drivingthe word lines WL and the capacitor plate lines PL included in thememory cell arrays 131 and 132 are arranged in the row direction betweenthe two memory cell arrays 131 and 132. PL drive circuits 135-1 through135-m and 136-1 through 136-m for driving part of the capacitor platelines PL in the memory cell arrays 131 and 132 which cannot be driven bythe WL/PL drive circuit sections 134-1 through 134-n arranged in the rowdirection are arranged in the column direction. However, thesemiconductor memory 100 c according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention differs from the semiconductor memory 100 b accordingto the second embodiment of the present invention in that the PL drivecircuits 135-1 through 135-m for driving m capacitor plate lines PL arearranged in the column direction between the memory cell array 131 and aperipheral circuit section 137 and that the PL drive circuits 136-1through 136-m for driving m capacitor plate lines PL are arranged in thecolumn direction between the memory cell array 132 and the peripheralcircuit section 137.

In addition, the semiconductor memory 100 c according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention includes the peripheral circuitsection 137 and pad sections 138 and 139 for inputting various kinds ofvoltages and outputting a signal read out from a ferroelectric memorycell 133. This is the same with the semiconductor memory 100 a accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention or the semiconductormemory 100 b according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

Circuits included in the peripheral circuit section 137 in thesemiconductor memory 100 c according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention are approximately the same as those included in theperipheral circuit section 107 in the semiconductor memory 100 aaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention or theperipheral circuit section 117 in the semiconductor memory 100 baccording to the second embodiment of the present invention. Comparedwith the semiconductor memory 100 a according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention or the semiconductor memory 100 b according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention, however, the memory cellarrays 131 and 132 are turned upside down. Therefore, the peripheralcircuit section 137 includes a subtracter 137 a for subtracting a columnaddress from a row address in place of an adder.

The operation of the semiconductor memory 100 c according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention will now be described. To access aferroelectric memory cell 133, a word line WL is driven by one of theWL/PL drive circuit sections 134-1 through 134-n located at a rowaddress of the ferroelectric memory cell 133.

The semiconductor memory 100 c according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention differs from the semiconductor memory 100 a accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention or the semiconductormemory 100 b according to the second embodiment of the present inventionin how to select a capacitor plate line PL to be driven. To simplify thedescription, it is assumed that (8×4) ferroelectric memory cells 133 arearranged in the memory cell array 131. The following describes how toselect a capacitor plate line PL to be driven.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a memory cell array and each drivecircuit included in the semiconductor memory according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention. In the memory cell array, rowaddresses and column addresses are represented in binary numbers. InFIG. 6, the 8×4 ferroelectric memory cells of the memory cell array arerepresented by the three-digit row addresses of “000” to “111” and thetwo-digit column addresses of “00” to “11”.

To access a ferroelectric memory cell 133 a located at, for example, therow address “011” and the column address “10,” a word line WL is drivenby the WL/PL drive circuit section 134-4 located at the row address“011”. A capacitor plate line PL to be driven is determined on the basisof a value obtained by subtracting the column address “10” from the rowaddress “011”.

As stated above, to select the ferroelectric memory cell 133 a locatedat the row address “011” and the column address “10,” the subtracter 137a included in the peripheral circuit section 137 shown in FIG. 5subtracts the column address “10” from the row address “011”.“011”−“10”=“001,” so a capacitor plate line PL is driven by the WL/PLdrive circuit section 134-2 located at the row address “001”. As aresult, the ferroelectric memory cell 133 a is selected. By applyingvoltage between a bit line BL connected to the ferroelectric memory cell133 a and the driven capacitor plate line PL at write time,predetermined data is written to ferroelectric capacitors (not shown)included in the ferroelectric memory cell 133 a. At read time, the datawritten to the ferroelectric capacitors is read out by the bit line BL.

Next, the case where a ferroelectric memory cell 133 b located at therow address “000” and the column address “01” is accessed will bedescribed. In this case, a word line WL is driven by the WL/PL drivecircuit section 134-1 located at the row address “000”. As stated above,a capacitor plate line PL to be driven is determined on the basis of avalue obtained by subtracting the column address “01” from the rowaddress “000”. The value obtained is negative and its absolute value is“001”. In this case, a capacitor plate line PL is driven by the PL drivecircuit 135-1 located at the column address “00” of the PL drivecircuits 135-1 through 135-3 arranged in the column direction. As aresult, the ferroelectric memory cell 133 b is selected and the abovewrite operation or read operation is performed.

Similarly, to select a ferroelectric memory cell 133 c for which anegative value the absolute value of which is “010” is obtained bysubtracting a column address from a row address, a capacitor plate linePL is driven by the PL drive circuit 135-2 located at the column address“01”. To select a ferroelectric memory cell 133 d for which a negativevalue the absolute value of which is “011” is obtained by subtracting acolumn address from a row address, a capacitor plate line PL is drivenby the PL drive circuit 135-3 located at the column address “10”.

By using the above semiconductor memory 100 c according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention, the same effect that can beachieved by the semiconductor memory 100 b according to the secondembodiment of the present invention is obtained. In addition, the PLdrive circuits 135-1 through 135-m and 136-1 through 136-m are locatednear the peripheral circuit section 137, so the length of wirings for adecoder circuit included in the peripheral circuit section 137 can beshortened. As a result, high-speed operation of the circuit because of areduction in wiring delay can be expected.

In the above example, each of the capacitor plate lines PL included inthe memory cell arrays 131 and 132 is arranged so as to connect withferroelectric memory cells 133 in different rows in the columndirection. This is the same with the semiconductor memory 100 baccording to the second embodiment of the present invention. By turningthe memory cell arrays 101 and 102 included in the semiconductor memory100 a according to the first embodiment of the present invention upsidedown, however, WL drive circuit 105-1 through 105-m may be locatedbetween the memory cell array 101 and the peripheral circuit section 107and WL drive circuit 106-1 through 106-m may be located between thememory cell array 102 and the peripheral circuit section 107.

With the present invention, in the memory cell array in whichferroelectric memory cells are arranged in a matrix, each capacitorplate line is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectric memory cellsin the same row and each word line is arranged so as to connect withferroelectric memory cells in different rows in the column direction. Asa result, the number of ferroelectric memory cells simultaneouslyselected is small and power consumption can be reduced. Furthermore, ofthe drive circuits for driving the capacitor plate lines and the wordlines, part of the word line drive circuits are arranged in the columndirection. Therefore, it is possible to drive all of the word lineswithout using a dummy area, thereby reducing circuit area.

In addition, in the memory cell array in which ferroelectric memorycells are arranged in a matrix form, each word line is arranged so as toconnect with ferroelectric memory cells in the same row and eachcapacitor plate line is arranged so as to connect with ferroelectricmemory cells in different rows in the column direction. As a result, thenumber of ferroelectric memory cells simultaneously selected is smalland power consumption can be reduced. Furthermore, of the drive circuitsfor driving the word lines and the capacitor plate lines, part of thecapacitor plate line drive circuits are arranged in the columndirection. Therefore, it is possible to drive all of the capacitor platelines without using a dummy area, thereby reducing circuit area.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe present invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changeswill readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired tolimit the invention to the exact construction and applications shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be regarded as falling within the scope of the invention in theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A semiconductor memory comprising: a plurality of ferroelectricmemory cells each having a row address and a column address, capacitorplate lines each connected to the ferroelectric memory cells having asame row address, and word lines each arranged so as to connect theferroelectric memory cells having adjacent row addresses and adjacentcolumn addresses; a plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits fordriving the capacitor plate lines; and a plurality of word line drivecircuits for driving the word lines, wherein: the plurality of capacitorplate line drive circuits are arranged in a direction of increasing rowaddresses of the memory cell array which is perpendicular to a directionof increasing column addresses of a memory cell array having theplurality of ferroelectric memory cells; the plurality of word linedrive circuits include a plurality of word line drive circuits that arearranged in the direction of increasing row addresses and a plurality ofword line drive circuits that are arranged in the direction ofincreasing column addresses; and one of the plurality of word line drivecircuits is selected based on a value obtained by adding a row addressand a column address of a ferroelectric memory cell to be selected, andthe selected word line drive circuit drives a word line connected to theferroelectric memory cell.
 2. The semiconductor memory according toclaim 1, further comprising a peripheral circuit section adjacent to thememory cell array, wherein the peripheral circuit section includes acircuit section for determining the word line coupled to a ferroelectricmemory cell to be selected, and the row address and the column addressare supplied to the peripheral circuit section for selecting theferroelectric memory cell.
 3. The semiconductor memory according toclaim 2, wherein a row address has a range corresponding to the memorycell array, and wherein if the value obtained exceeds a maximum valuewithin the range, the circuit section selects one of the plurality ofword line drive circuits arranged in the direction of increasing columnaddresses for driving the word line.
 4. The semiconductor memoryaccording to claim 1, further comprising a peripheral circuit sectionadjacent to the memory cell array, wherein the peripheral circuitsection includes a circuit section for selecting at least one of a wordline and a capacitor plate line to be driven, which couples to aferroelectric memory cell to be accessed, according to an address whichare supplied to the peripheral circuit section for accessing theferroelectric memory cell, wherein part of the plurality of word linedrive circuits are arranged in the direction of increasing columnaddresses between the memory cell array and the circuit section.
 5. Asemiconductor memory comprising: a plurality of ferroelectric memorycells each having a row address and a column address, capacitor platelines each connected to the ferroelectric memory cells having a same rowaddress, and word lines each arranged so as to connect the ferroelectricmemory cells having adjacent row addresses and adjacent columnaddresses; a plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits fordriving the capacitor plate lines; and a plurality of word line drivecircuits for driving the word lines, wherein: the plurality of capacitorplate line drive circuits are arranged in a direction of increasing rowaddresses of the memory cell array which is perpendicular to a directionof increasing column addresses of a memory cell array having theplurality of ferroelectric memory cells; the plurality of word linedrive circuits include a plurality of word line drive circuits that arearranged in the direction of increasing row addresses and a plurality ofword line drive circuits that are arranged in the direction ofincreasing column addresses; and one of the plurality of word line drivecircuits is selected based on a value obtained by subtracting a columnaddress from a row address of a ferroelectric memory cell to beselected, and the selected word line drive circuit drives a word lineconnected to the ferroelectric memory cell.
 6. The semiconductor memoryaccording to claim 5, wherein if the row address is smaller than thecolumn address, the circuit section selects one of the plurality of wordline drive circuits arranged in the direction of increasing columnaddresses for driving the word line.
 7. The semiconductor memoryaccording to claim 5, further comprising a peripheral circuit sectionadjacent to the memory cell array, wherein the peripheral circuitsection includes a circuit section for determining the word line coupledto a ferroelectric memory cell to be selected, and the row address andthe column address are supplied to the peripheral circuit section forselecting the ferroelectric memory cell.
 8. A semiconductor memorycomprising: a plurality of ferroelectric memory cells each having a rowaddress and a column address, word lines each connected to theferroelectric memory cells having a same row address, and capacitorplate lines each arranged so as to connect the ferroelectric memorycells having adjacent row addresses and adjacent column addresses; aplurality of word line drive circuits for driving the word lines; and aplurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits for driving thecapacitor plate lines, wherein: the plurality of word line drivecircuits are arranged in a direction of increasing row addresses of thememory cell array which is perpendicular to a direction of increasingcolumn addresses of a memory cell array having the plurality offerroelectric memory cells; the plurality of capacitor plate line drivecircuits include a plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits thatare arranged in the direction of increasing row addresses and aplurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits that are arranged inthe direction of increasing column addresses, and one of the pluralityof capacitor plate line drive circuits is selected based on a valueobtained by adding a row address and a column address of a ferroelectricmemory cell to be selected, and the selected capacitor plate line drivecircuit drives a capacitor plate line connected to the ferroelectricmemory cell.
 9. The semiconductor memory according to claim 8, furthercomprising a peripheral circuit section adjacent to the memory cellarray, wherein the peripheral circuit section includes a circuit sectionfor determining the capacitor plate line coupled to a ferroelectricmemory cell to be selected the row address and the column address aresupplied to the peripheral circuit section for selecting theferroelectric memory cell.
 10. The semiconductor memory according toclaim 9, wherein a row address has a range corresponding to the memorycell array, and wherein if the value obtained exceeds a maximum valuewithin the range, the circuit section selects one of the plurality ofcapacitor plate line drive circuits arranged in the direction ofincreasing column addresses for driving the capacitor plate line. 11.The semiconductor memory according to claim 8, further comprising aperipheral circuit section adjacent to the memory cell array, whereinthe peripheral circuit section includes a circuit section for selectingat least one of a word line and a capacitor plate line to be driven,which couples to a ferroelectric memory cell to be accessed, accordingto an address which are supplied to the peripheral circuit section foraccessing the ferroelectric memory cell, wherein part of the pluralityof capacitor plate line drive circuits are arranged in the direction ofincreasing column addresses between the memory cell array and thecircuit section.
 12. A semiconductor memory comprising: a plurality offerroelectric memory cells each having a row address and a columnaddress, word lines each connected to the ferroelectric memory cellshaving a same row address, and capacitor plate lines each arranged so asto connect the ferroelectric memory cells having adjacent row addressesand adjacent column addresses; a plurality of word line drive circuitsfor driving the word lines; and a plurality of capacitor plate linedrive circuits for driving the capacitor plate lines, wherein: theplurality of word line drive circuits are arranged in a direction ofincreasing row addresses of the memory cell array which is perpendicularto a direction of increasing column addresses of a memory cell arrayhaving the plurality of ferroelectric memory cells; the plurality ofcapacitor plate line drive circuits include a of capacitor plate linedrive circuits that are arranged in the direction of increasing rowaddresses and a plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits thatare arranged in the direction of increasing column addresses, and one ofthe plurality of capacitor plate line drive circuits is selected basedon a value obtained by subtracting a column address from a row addressof a ferroelectric memory cell to be selected, and the selectedcapacitor plate line drive circuit drives a capacitor plate lineconnected to the ferroelectric memory cell.
 13. The semiconductor memoryaccording to claim 12, wherein if the row address is smaller than thecolumn address, the circuit section selects one of the plurality ofcapacitor plate line drive circuits arranged in the direction ofincreasing column addresses for driving the capacitor plate line. 14.The semiconductor memory according to claim 12 further comprising aperipheral circuit section adjacent to the memory cell array, whereinthe peripheral circuit section includes a circuit section fordetermining the capacitor plate line coupled to a ferroelectric memorycell to be selected, and the row address and the column address aresupplied to the peripheral circuit section for selecting theferroelectric memory cell.